INDIA. 



381 



from countries granting bounties. The Indian 

 Government urged its claims for consideration on 

 the Brussels sugar conference of 1898, where its 

 views were opposed by the representatives of 

 Russia and France. The new duty, unlike the 

 salt tax, will fall mainly on the well-to-do, who 

 are the only consumers of refined sugar in India. 

 The agriculturists prepare their sugar for their 

 own use, and the poorer classes everywhere pre- 

 fer to use the cheap raw sugar to which they 

 have been accustomed from time immemorial. 

 The duty is imposed on all sugar from countries 

 giving bounties, whether imported directly from 

 the country of production or through other coiin- 

 tries, and even when changed in condition by 

 manufacture in another country. The Austrian 

 Government protested against the Indian counter- 

 vailing duty as opposed to the provisions of the 

 most-favored-nation treaties, inasmuch as the 

 duty would vary in proportion to the bounty, 

 and thus cause unequal duties to be imposed on 

 imports from different countries. Lord Salisbury, 

 while admitting that the right of imposing coun- 

 tervailing duties was a matter of controversy, 

 pointed out that when the American Government 

 took similar action none of the states affected 

 maintained their opposition, and pleaded that 

 India was specially justified in the circumstances 

 in which the industry of that country was placed. 

 After one season of good crops, a failure of the 

 rainfall in 1899 again caused great scarcity of 

 food in many parts of India, and actual famine 

 in an area containing about half as large a popu- 

 lation as was affected by the failure of the mon- 

 soon in the autumn of 1866. The famine-stricken 

 districts in 1897 comprised 260,000 square miles, 

 containing a population of 70,000,000, though in 

 about half of this area, with two thirds of the 

 population, the famine was not severe. The de- 

 ficiency in the food crops was about 18,000,000 

 tons of grain, the value of which was estimated 

 at Rx 90,000,000. The losses of other crops 

 amounted to about Rx 20,000,000 more. The ex- 

 penditure of the Government for relief was Rx 

 19,000,000. The failure of crops in 1899 extended 

 over 100,000 square miles in British territory, 

 with a population of 15,000,000, and 250,000 

 square miles of native territory, containing 15,- 

 000,000 population. This area included five sixths 

 of the Central Provinces and the southeastern 

 part of the Punjab districts where the agricul- 

 tural population was still suffering from the de- 

 pression caused by the previous famine. Bengal, 

 half of the Northwest Provinces and Oudh, 

 and the Burmah, Madras, and Mysore regions, 

 including the most densely inhabited and highly 

 cultivated tracts in India, suffered from no short- 

 age of crops, although the pressure of high prices 

 bore upon the laboring and city populations. 

 The southern Mahratta districts, the south of 

 the Deccan, the greater part of Hyderabad, the 

 main districts in Central India, the western half 

 of the Northwest Provinces, and the northern 

 part of the Punjab suffered a marked deficiency, 

 though nowhere was there a complete failure of 

 crops. The total area affected seriously was half 

 as large in British dominions, and the population 

 only a third as great as in 1897. In the native 

 states, however, the area of grave distress was 

 more than three times as great, with more than 

 twice the population. In Rajputana the people 

 were threatened with a more serious situation 

 than any that had occurred since the famine year 

 1869. The food stocks in all India were estimated 

 to be sufficient for the requirements of the coun- 

 try until the rains should be due in July, 1900, 

 and considerable quantities of foreign wheat were 



delivered at Calcutta as soon as the prices reached 

 the scarcity stage. The Government took more 

 timely precautions than in 1896. The system of 

 relief by means of poorhouses, doles, famine 

 works, etc., was promptly set in operation. The 

 Government promised also advances to agricul- 

 turists and remission of rent. 



Navigation. The total number of vessels in 

 the foreign trade entered at British Indian ports 

 during the year ending March 31, 1898, was 4,975, 

 of 3,917,761 tons, of which 1,984, of 3,127,061 

 tons, were British, 946, of 142,882 tons, British 

 Indian, 1,419, of 75,772 tons, native, and 626, of 

 572,046 tons, foreign. The total number cleared 

 was 4,784, of 3,866,869 tons, of which 1,964, of 

 3,087,527 tons, were British, 923, of 138,500 tons, 

 British Indian, 1,332, of 74,919 tons, native, and 

 565, of 565,923 tons, foreign. The total number 

 of steamers entered was 578, of 1,454,321 tons; 

 cleared, 758, of 1,790,223 tons. The number of 

 vessels entered with cargoes in the interportal 

 trade was 91,522, of 10,479,527 tons; cleared, 86,- 

 660, of 10,523,910 tons. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. The 

 total length of railroads in India on March 31, 

 1898, was 21,157 miles, of which the Indian Gov- 

 ernment owned 15,584 miles, native states 2,018 

 miles, foreign governments 73 miles, guaranteed 

 companies 2,588 miles, and assisted companies 

 894. The State Railway Agency operated 5,307 

 miles, of which 5,161 miles belonged to the Gov- 

 ernment and 146 miles to native states; and the 

 states operated 954 miles of their lines, while 

 companies operated 10,422 miles of the lines be- 

 longing to the Indian Government and 919 miles 

 belonging to the native states, besides 3,483 miles 

 of their own, making 14,824 miles in all. The 

 capital expenditure, including unfinished lines, 

 surveys, and coal mines, was Rx 285,211,784, of 

 which total the Indian state railways represent 

 Rx 170,421,746, the state lines leased to com- 

 panies Rx 38,224,662, guaranteed railways Rx 

 50,709,764, assisted companies Rx 10,921,414, na- 

 tive state lines Rx 12,385,252, foreign lines Rx 

 1,750,179, surveys Rx 491,196, and collieries Rx 

 307,571. The gross receipts of all the railroads 

 for 1897 were Rx 25,595,169, of which Rx 8,858,875 

 came from 151,263,816 passengers and Rx 15,875,- 

 883 from 33,698,617 tons of freight carried. The 

 working expenses were Rx 12,511,163, being 48.88 

 per cent, of the gross earnings, leaving Rx 13,084,- 

 006 for the net earnings, which gave an average 

 return of 5.04 per. cent, on the capital expended 

 on lines in operation. 



The number of letters, postal cards, and money 

 orders that passed through the post offices of 

 British India during 1897 was 397,897,840; the 

 number of newspapers, 29,778,291 ; of parcels, 

 2,708,769; of packets, 19,341,398. The receipts 

 were Rx 1,783,473; expenses, Rx 1,698,156. 



The Government telegraph lines on March 31, 

 1897, had a total length of 48,584 miles, with 148,- 

 136 miles of wire. The number of messages sent 

 during the year was 5,077,584. The receipts were 

 Rx 1,071,524; expenses, Rx 946,759. 



Adoption of the Gold Standard. The Indian 

 Currency Committee appointed in 1898 gave in 

 its report to the Secretary of State early in July. 

 Gold was accepted by the Government in pay- 

 ment for public dues, but the rupee was by law 

 the only legal tender. There was no legal rela- 

 tion between rupees and gold, although the Gov- 

 ernment had declared until further notice a rate 

 at which rupees could be purchased for gold coin 

 or bullion, and this rate of Is. 4ef. for the rupee 

 served to determine the maximum limit to which 

 under that arrangement sterling exchange could 



